2010: A Retrospective

I often use this week between Christmas and New Year's as a time to reflect on the year past and make goals for the new year. I take stock on places I have gone and people I have met, professional accomplishments and personal milestones.

I left home this year to go to Michigan, Florida, New York, Connecticut, Bermuda, Chicago, Maine and New Hampshire by car, plane, train, boat and bus.

I navigated an increasingly difficult work environment while only driving my friends slightly mad with my complaining.

I improved my knitting skill and turned a new hobby into a big part of my life, completing homemade holiday gifts for all of my family. I taught myself 2 new and useful techniques and had countless hours of entertainment with friends over a ball of yarn.

I tackled my debt and inability to budget. While this is certainly not the end of my debt I feel confident in moving forward with the plan in place and barring major financial hardship I can see the light at the end of that tunnel.

I reinvested in my health goals with more focus than I have had in years. This was not something new to me, my apartment is littered with food journals from the past few years, started in earnest and abandoned after a couple weeks.

I have a new niece, an adorable happy baby that in her 7 weeks on the planet has already brought me much joy. I watched my other nieces grow and change, each year of their young lives so important while it seems mine move quickly and with little difference.

2010 had plenty of happiness, but it was rife with hard decisions and fervent planning. I am approaching 2011 with more whimsy. Stay tuned for my 2011 goals tomorrow...

57 Books in 52 Weeks

So yesterday I tallied up my books for 2010. It was a great reading year for me, some really wonderful novels came into my life and a smattering of non-fiction (more than normal, but not quite enough) peppered the list.

This is not exactly on theme with this blog, but I did notice an interesting budget point here. I read 57 books this year and only purchased 5 (and 3 of those were impulse buys while on a business trip). That means I read 52 books this year (1 a week) that were either a gift, borrowed from a friend or taken out of the library. That is a year's worth of free entertainment and knowledge, how cool!

Here, in no particular order, are my 10 favorite books read this year:

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok (hands down my over all favorite)
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn by Janis Hallowell
One Day by David Nichols
Little Bee by Chris Cleaver
Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

On my list for 2011 are some daunting tomes, including War & Peace (yes, I will really use it as more than a door stop this year) and a few voluminous works of history. Perhaps I can combine my workouts with my reading and just do exercises with the books....

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

That Forest Gump quote has nothing to do with this post except that I got a box of really good chocolates for Christmas and have eaten them all. Bad bad Annmarie....

Christmas Recap

The holidays are by no means over, I still have 2 large festive gatherings to come, but I stepped on the scale this morning and balanced the check book last night and since I failed to blog over the weekend I thought I would do a Sunday-style recap for the holiday season so far.

Diet: I have gained and lost the same 2 pounds for the past month. I am up 2 pounds from my lowest weight right now, but still4 pounds under my personal barrier set in my mind back in early November. Last week I stuck to a good eating plan right up to Christmas Eve and then allowed myself whatever I wanted for the 2 days of Christmas. I was both proud of myself for eating and exercising earlier in the week and satisfied and content with my holiday treats. On the way back to Boston yesterday I did a grocery shopping full of healthful foods for the week leading up to New Years and while I will likely not venture out in the snow today to the gym I will do a workout here at home.

Budget: I will likely go over my gift budget for the year, but I am well under what I have spent on Christmas for years past and I paid for all of it with cash without deferring any other bills. A week at my parents alleviated some of my household expenses so I am a little ahead in other categories and for the first time in many years I used the money my grandparents gave me for Christmas to buy something fun (yarn to attempt my first sweater) instead of putting it towards the bills that were piling up.

Mood: Typical Christmas stress eeked in last week, but over all the holiday was pleasant and relaxing with friends and family and snow! I love this week between Christmas and New Year's, it is a time to look back at the year that was and look ahead to what is to come and I feel really good about both those things this year.

I hope all of you enjoyed the Christmas holiday (or the quiet if you don't celebrate Christmas) and are looking forward to a festive New Year!

Target Practice

I often complain that downtown Boston is lacking in a big box store (preferably Target, but even a Wal-Mart would be OK) for affordable household items and such. Buying cleaning supplies and such at Target is generally cheaper than the grocery store or CVS.

The problem with Target is the temptation factor. Having everything you could ever need in one store (including groceries at many locations) leads to over spending. No matter how strictly you try to stick to your list there is no way to get out of Target without a few items you were not planning on buying.

So, perhaps I should be glad there is not one more conveniently located to home.

Work Out at Home

So yesterday I was here at my parents' house by myself almost all day. It was snowing pretty steadily and my first two plans of working out were dashed: walking down to the subdivision near here for a long walk at lunch or driving to the local Y and getting a trial pass for the week.

Around lunch time I was going a little stir crazy. I went out and shovelled the walk and though it was snowing fast and furious the snow was very light and hardly any effort was exerted. Then I remembered the wonders of On Demand cable.

If you have cable you have a world of exercise videos at your disposal. I went down to the living room in the finished basement and selected a 30 minute cardio workout.

Before I began I did a couple jumping jacks to ensure that my exercising would not disrupt any of the Christmas decorations and then I hit play and 30 minutes later I was sweating and feeling good.

I ate 3 healthy meals and allowed myself a small ice cream treat in the evening, not a bad day over all!

Home for the Holidays

So I came home to my parents' house on Saturday and will be here until Sunday after Christmas. My parents have lived in this house for 33 years, it is the only place I really call home.

I moved out of this house shortly after my 17th birthday to go to college and have made brief residential visits since then (one summer during college and a while after returning from Russia in '96) but for the most part my parents house is a place I come to relax and enjoy my family.

I think of it as a bed & breakfast of sorts, where the owners are the most important people in my world. I am often pampered and entertained here in a way I cannot and do not pamper myself at my own apartment. This often includes food.

No matter how firmly my mind is set on maintaining my diet I instantly want a treat when I get here. Couple that with this being the week of treats like no other and I am chasing my preverbial tail to not gorge myself.

The weekend was full of holiday events, but now it is Monday, my parents are at work and I am working from here and trying to fall into my normal eating routine and hopefully sneak in a work out if I can...

Sunday Recap: Week 18

So it begins, the true holiday madness. This week featured a business trip and the first weekend of Christmas festivities at the parents...

Diet: Up and down all week. I am really considering the holidays a 1 meal at a time plan and trying to sneak in a few solid healthy meals to balance out the rest. I worked out 3 days in all.

Budget: Doing well with my Christmas budget, with a week to go I have a nice little bit of cash for last minute gifts and treats. I have also already put aside money for New Years and Russian Xmas.

Mood: Slightly stressed in a manic holiday way, but merry over all!

As far as both the diet and the budget go I have a maximum threshold for indulging, I am hoping to fall shy of it. Hope you are all enjoying the holidays!

Credit Card Roulette

While standing in one of many long lines yesterday (is the economy coming back maybe?) I watched a woman ahead of me do something I have done many times in the past 15 years: she tried and failed to pay for her purchase with a revolving handful of credit cards.

It was painful to watch, although certainly not uncommon, everyone in line in front of me paid for their purchase with a credit card (although granted some could have been debit cards), when I handed the cashier cash she seemed flummoxed.

I used to play my credit cards like slot machines, paying a little more on one over the others at bill time so I would have some credit to shop with and then checking all the balances and using whichever one fit the purchase I was trying to make. It was a ton of work and exhausting and stressful.

This holiday season has been exhausting and stressful also, but the difference is, when it is over the stress will be too. I will not be getting any credit card bills in January to add to the doldrums of winter. I have had to budget very tightly to make Christmas work this year, but I did and even have a little money for fun things this week. I never want to be that woman again.

Healthy on Aisle 4!

Eating well is not an easy undertaking. As I have written it has taken me months to get in the habit of making meal plans and writing shopping lists. Often I will go to more than 1 grocery store to do my shopping, this works for me for a number of reasons:

First, I live in the city and have no car, so I am limited to the amount of groceries I can buy in one trip. If I am making multiple trips any way it doesn't matter which stores I go to on each trip. I have a Shaw's, a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods all equidistant from my apartment.

Next, if I am making a list and sticking to it I can divide the list up by what is best and most convenient at each stop. I do not need to browse, browsing leads to cookies.

Finally, each store has value in different departments. Household items are definitely cheaper at mainstream stores, produce is a better investment at Whole Foods, cereal, yogurt and other dairy is a steal at Trader Joe's so I can work my budget while working my shopping lists.

Yahoo posted an article from Health.com the other day on the healthiest grocery stores in America. Whole Foods and TJs made the list! What I love about them is the incredible lack of temptation, even if I cave and get cookies at one of these places I know they are devoid of artificial crap.

Life on the Road

If you have been following this blog you know one thing about me: I like a good plan. When plans go awry I get antsy.

Last Sunday I was scheduled to fly to Chicago, Mother Nature had other plans. A canceled flight and rescheduled itinerary later I was en route to Chicago at the cruel hour of 6:30 a.m. on Monday.

All things considered Monday was not a terrible day for the diet. I had yogurt at the airport and a granola bar on the plane, a decent lunch at the hotel and a nice dinner out with my coworkers. I skipped the ice cream at dinner, but did eat a chocolate chip cookie during our meeting break that afternoon. I had some wine and a beer, but overall food-wise it could have been much worse.

I also snuck in a work out. In this regard the schedule change helped. So many people were delayed getting in we started after lunch on Monday and I arrived at 9:30 a.m., so I changed and went immediately to the hotel gym for 50 minutes of cardio.

Tuesday was not quite as good, I had a bigger breakfast than normal, but for lunch just had a turkey sandwich. Dinner involved a lot of wine and a huge dessert and no time for a workout.

Wednesday I had no breakfast and a fairly healthy lunch, no snacks of any kind and a lot of walking around a convention center and an airport. Dinner was a challenge though. The week before Christmas at O'Hare airport and the place was a zoo. I tried to sneak in to a regular restaurant to try and find something that did not come with a side of fries (5 months and counting, no fries!) and there was not a seat to be had. So I grabbed a sandwich from Quiznos, which was really not tasty and ate half of it standing up.

That is the short story, the longer version is I walked about 20 times past a McDonald's and really wanted fries. I literally was talking myself in and out of getting fries over and over. Am I totally insane? I didn't get them and I am proud of my resolve to stick to a fry-free lifestyle.

The next few weeks will be an avalanche of temptation and I ultimately would rather have some homemade Christmas cookies than a greasy soggy carton of McDonald's fries.

Sunday Recap -- Week 17

Today has been a bit hectic, but I am sneaking in this blog post before heading to Chicago tomorrow. I will not be blogging for the next few days, don't worry about me, I will just be busy and I am too frazzled to write ahead and time the posts, so no new blog until Thursday...

Diet: Had a decent week, weighed in on Friday and was happy with a small weight loss for the month which included Thanksgiving. My ultimate goal over the next few weeks is to not gain any weight, so a little weight loss is a nice cushion. Had good work outs and ate well most of the week.

Budget: Nothing of note here this week, that is good I would imagine :)

Mood: Little stressed about this work trip, now weather has delayed my departure until tomorrow, but other than that mood is festive and bright!

I will have a thorough post when I return documenting my 3 days out of town and how I do with eating and exercising while on the road!

Subconscious Sabotage

At this time of year I have come to terms with treats and indulgences. I do not feel guilty having wine and cheese with my friends or tasty desserts with festive holiday sprinkles. I have to live like this for the rest of my life and my life contains treats.

Yesterday I inadvertently treated myself to something bad though. On a visit to Starbucks for a hot chocolate, I forgot to order non-fat milk. As I crossed Charles Street into the beautifully decorated Public Garden I sipped my treat and realized quickly it was full fat.

It was delicious but I did chastise myself for not being more thoughtful. That hot chocolate would have been just as good a treat made with skim milk.

Stretching

When I started working out in August I was just moving. I was adding movement to my life in a focused way. All the experts say this, if you don't move start moving, if you move a little move a little bit more. You should not jump into running 5 Ks if you hardly ever move.

As the months have clicked by my workouts have definitely increased in intensity and I have found I really need to stretch more.

Stretching is vital to preventing injury and I know this from my years of walking and working the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk. I get lazy though and stretching takes time and I try to squeeze my workouts in during my lunch hour.

I think stretching is going to be inevitable though, so I am in search of a good quick stretching routine.

Giving and Receiving

I have talked a bit on this blog about charitable giving at the holidays. I know many of my readers are philanthropic all year long and this morning I read an article on how to get a little back from the IRS at tax time.

This article talks a bit about the parameters of what you can deduct, how much and what sort of back up you may need. Tax time is right around the corner and there are 22 charitable giving days left to make the cut for 2010 taxes.

A lot of the donations I make during the year are online in support of friends. I file all my online receipts in one email folder and print them out before heading to my accountant (oh yeah I don't do my own taxes so please don't ask me about tax forms....). It has become a routine and an easy way to keep the info in one spot instead of having to go back through bank statements to remember when I made donations throughout the year.

Shape Ups

Is anyone wearing the new "shape up" sneakers? The ones with the balance ball technology that is supposed to shape your calves and butt while you walk?

As you may remember I considered buying them earlier this fall and balked for fear of causing pain or injury by veering from my standard walking shoe, but I confess to being tempted once again.

Now that I have lost some weight, I am interested in toning and shaping a little more than I was at the beginning. I am focusing my strength and conditioning time on my arms and middle, but something that would also work my calves (which are strong and ugly) would be a bonus.

If anyone has tried them, good reviews and bad, please let me know. Thanks!

Health Insurance Hassle

So just when you think you have your budget locked in, something goes and changes. In my case, health insurance costs. I currently have the double whammy of regular open enrollment rate hikes and a new company merger that is throwing everything into chaos.

To stay with the PPO style (think co-pays and a lower deductible) of health care I have always had I would be looking at an increase of about $100 a month. For many people $100 a month is not a huge deal, for someone who has budgeted down to her last $13 of discretionary income a month, it is a huge deal.

My other option is an HSA, Health Savings Account, which has a much lower monthly premium and a much higher deductible. The philosophy is, you take the money you would have paid on the premium and put it in a savings account (pre-tax) and then use that money to cover the higher deductible. Basically it gives you greater control over your money, privatizes health care a little bit.

I have been assured this plan is very good for people who do not visit the doctor frequently or have many prescriptions. I did not see a doctor at all the past year, if I had been funding my HSA this year I would have a sizable nest egg to use towards any medical costs that come up.

Good news is, in both instances, all preventive care is covered at 100% (including all cancer screenings) and there is no max cap with no pull on your deductible. So you can take good care of yourself for free.

The only real fear with switching to the HSA is a sudden catastrophic event, say I get hit by a bus. A wise friend pointed out that a catastrophic medical situation is a financial burden regardless of insurance plans though.

So I lean towards the HSA. My premium will go down about $100 a month and I will funnel that money into the HSA, so it should not effect my take home pay and I will have half my deductible covered by the end of the year. I can also fund it independently, say with my tax refund in February, with no penalty.

I consider myself to be fairly intelligent, but these past few days have left my head spinning, but with a commitment to making myself healthier so I don't have to deal with medical issues for awhile...

You Are What You Eat

This old adage is so true. This past weekend I ate worse than I have in 4 months. Not only did I indulge in junk, but I didn't eat any regular meals. My body is not happy with me.

I woke up this morning lethargic and puffy.

It is truly frightening how easy it was to slip into old habits though. I can blame it on the holidays of course, but truth is I was just lazy. The snacky food was handy and tasty and I ate it, in abundance.

Luckily I do not need to step on the scale until Friday, so hopefully a week of workouts and meal plans can undo some of the damage.

I am what I ate this weekend, a blob of unhealthy useless calories...

Sunday Recap -- Month 4

One quarter of year one, so one sixteenth of my 4 year plan complete. Over all I am pleased with my progress. I am one quarter of the way to my weight loss goal and my budget, though a work in progress is working for me.

Diet: This is the first month of festive holiday time and my goal really is to maintain the weight I have lost between now and Russian Christmas. If I lose a couple extra pounds that would be great, but as long as I do not back slide I will be happy. Friday is my weigh in date for Month 4 and I think I will be a pound or 2 down. I have increased my workouts, both in intensity and duration and am really happy with my work out efforts, eating is a different story right now.

Budget: My budget just took a hit with increased health care premiums, but I will try to make adjustments within my household budget to accommodate that. Once the holidays are over I have to become a little stricter, not only with the gift budget, but the food and entertainment budgets.

Mood: I have been increasingly anxious the past couple weeks. The holidays can do that and the impending gloom of near total darkness as winter descends doesn't help. I am trying to keep my mind on festive things and I have a beautifully decorated apartment to relax in.

Time is a fluid concept. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I started this life plan and in other ways I can hardly remember a time before this. That is good I think, my ultimate goal is to make this way of life organic to my being and not a "plan" that will be over in 4 years. I hope that what I learn about eating and budgeting will just be part of who I am when I'm done.

Look in the Mirror

I do not own a full length mirror. I used to, but it got purged in a move and I never replaced it. As far as I know it was not a conscious decision. I often consult full length mirrors in dressing rooms and at my parent's house.

In my apartment though I only have the little mirror above the bathroom sink and a hand held make-up mirror. I use these looking glasses to make sure I haven't inadvertently written on my face.

I think I need to invest in one. I was surprised by my reflection over Thanksgiving, I actually kind of liked it.

Free Things to Do

OK, I know I talk about the joys of the library a lot and I know how lucky I am that my local branch is the main branch of the Boston Public Library but even I am uncovering more and wondrous aspects of library life.

Last night I attended a panel discussion on Emily Dickinson. As many of you know, Emily has been a big part of my personal and academic life for over 20 years. The evening was arranged by Sam Cornish, Poet Laureate of Boston (had no idea such a position existed!). Sam admitted to falling in love with Emily late in life and he was trying to make up for lost time.

The panel was 4 poets, who read works about or inspired by Emily, a mystery novelist who sets one of her series in Western, MA and Emily's genealogy makes an appearance and a professor from UMass Amherst who teaches Emily. It was a casual, fun evening of discussion, all for free in the gorgeous McKim Building of the BPL right in Copley Square.

I confess to having not really exploring the BPL very well. I go to the Johnson Building (where the regular collection is held) do my business, notice the revolving exhibits and leave. In heading over to the event last night I traveled through the gorgeous courtyard, that even in the dark was breathtaking, and into this wonderfully beautiful building.

Yesterday on Facebook the BPL posted that they offer free art & architecture tours 6 times a week. I had no idea. Upon leaving last night I saw a sign about the tours with schedules. Tuesday and Thursday the tour is at 6:00 pm and while there is a tour on Saturday and Sunday the 3rd floor is not accessible on those days, so I am going to go next Thursday at 6:00. I definitely want to see more.

This will make 2 Thursdays in a row where I got out of my house (working from home in the winter is really depressing), interacted with other people, learned something and did it all for free.

I know lots of librarians and these events happen at all libraries. Event he small town library in my hometown had an open house a couple weeks back and they frequently have children's events. Bookmark your libraries website and keep an eye out for events near you!

Elliptically Challenged

I have belonged to a gym for about 7 years now, off and on. The frequency of my visits has varied greatly, but one thing remained the same. I was terrified of this thing:


The elliptical machine seemed like too much for "unfit" me. I wasn't coordinated enough, my arms and legs couldn't possibly move at the same time. I tried it, oh how I tried it, numerous times, usually with embarrassing results and always with me winded and in terrible pain after 5 minutes or so.

This week, due to the unexplained pain in my foot, the treadmill has not been my friend. The repetitive impact of walking is very difficult, mostly because I never know which step is going to hurt and when it hurts it is star-seeing pain.

On Monday I did a thorough strength and conditioning workout, but didn't feel right skipping the cardio all together. So I decided to try the elliptical again, it has been a couple years.

Luckily the gym was practically empty and if I had to hop off less than 5 minutes after starting it wouldn't have been too humiliating. I set it to manual and level 5 for 10 minutes and started off. The motion was much more fluid and caused very little pain in my ankle (which was the point) and after 5 minutes I was not winded and while my legs felt it in different places I was not seeing stars.

The 10 minutes elapsed and I did the 3 minute cool down. A 13 minute cardio workout won't cut it regularly, but since I was planning on no cardio that was an improvement. Yesterday I did 20 minutes without a problem.

I don't know what has changed, I certainly am no more coordinated than I was a few years ago, but maybe I am a little fitter.

Holiday Greetings!

In this age of near constant and instant communication, Christmas Cards seem a little out-dated. I can chat with friends all over the world any time of day or night now and a Christmas Card is no longer necessary, or is it?

Certainly before email a Christmas Card was a great way to touch base with people all over the place that you did not converse with or see regularly. Now thanks to All Gore, Facebook and Twitter we are all thoroughly sick of one another. That is not stopping me from sending Christmas Cards.

Because they are so old-fashioned the act of writing out Christmas Cards forces me to slow down and think about the people I am writing to, to remember holidays past with them and reflect on what they mean to me. Even people I talk to and see all the time.

I love the whole process, selecting the cards (often done right after Christmas to get a good bargain), updating the addresses (who has moved/gotten married/had kids this year), waiting for the holiday stamps to be unveiled, choosing a good pen and finally sitting down by my tree with a cup of tea to write.

I have a Christmas Card address book that I have used since 2001, it has the history of my loved ones in it, friends and family who have passed on and new additions to life in the past decade. It is a journal of my beautiful cast of characters.

The Christmas Card experience is not cheap, cards and stamps add up, but I now will factor it in to my holiday budget, one fewer gift for mom or dad will cover the cost of reaching out to those who make life so sweet.

Mmmm Chocolate

So we are now firmly entrenched in the holiday season and with it comes temptation at every turn. I am trying to compile a list of treats that feel bad for me, but really aren't. Things that are satisfying without being bad for me or fake plastic food full of artificial sweeteners.

In my email yesterday was this recipe for homemade hot cocoa, it sounds simple and delicious. Although I was disappointed that their idea of spicing it up involved spices and not, you know, booze.

Chocolate keeps popping up in nutrition news as a good thing (in moderation of course) and I drink so little milk that making mine with skim milk would be a tasty treat full of calcium and protein.

If you have any other holiday favorites that are naturally not terrible for you, please send them along!

A New Size

So, in the midst of shopping for others, my mother made me try on some clothes so she could get me a few things to put under the tree. Also, my one Christmas gift request was for a new winter coat to replace my current bedraggled and much-too-big one.

As I may have mentioned I tried on a pair of jeans a couple weeks ago a size smaller than I was wearing and they fit. They were the stretchier denim though and I had no hope that I was really that size.

Let's start with the coat. The Macy's near my parents is not huge and their coat department rather small. They do not carry many sizes and I realized quickly I was likely going to have to buy a coat in a Misses size not a Women's size (guys out there don't try to figure out female sizing, it will just give you a headache).

I found a coat, it fits, my mother even agreed it did not appear too tight any where. It is red. I love it.

Then we moved on to clothes. I grabbed a pair of the new hip jeans, not the comfy stretchy ones I tried a couple weeks ago, in the smaller size. Not only did they fit, but they looked really good.

I found a cute shirt to go with them (also a size smaller) and a couple other items. Mom bought them and the coat.

Now, I can't gain the weight back or these things won't fit and mom will have wasted all that money. I am now using guilt to convince myself not to eat too much. Also, my budget cannot sustain buying another coat to replace the one that will be too small and it is cold here in the winter.

Sunday Recap Week 15

So it's the first major holiday week since I began my journey, the verdict on my self-control: so-so.

Diet: I will see what the scale says tomorrow. I imagine it will hover around where it was within a pound or two. I definitely veered off my eating plan, but I never really over did it. I ate a piece of pie a day, which is not really a good habit, but it was homemade delicious pie and I really enjoyed it. A couple days I failed to eat breakfast, which is always a recipe for disaster. I didn't eat out at all though, so no temptations for fried, still deep fried-free after 15 weeks!

Budget: I set a budget for shopping on Friday and exceeded it by about $50, not terrible. I am very nearly done shopping :)

Mood: I am officially in the holiday spirit. It was a very stress-free holiday, which is nice and with another day of festivities ahead of me I am heading in to the work week rested and happy.

I did not set foot on my parents' treadmill, which was a little disappointing, but I did chase my nieces around a lot and did 7 hours worth of shopping Friday!

The holidays will need to be managed for the rest of my life. I am happy to find little treats I can indulge in without busting the plan wide open. Delicious flavored coffees (no added sugar, just spices and since I only use skim milk a nice treat) and fat free peppermints that are creamy and delicious, pistachios (which in moderation are good for you) and more!

Owww....

So I seem to have sustained a Black Friday shopping-related injury. I have had an ongoing issue with my heels for the past year or so. I believe I injured them when I was overseas running to catch the subway in Moscow.

Recently I have had no pain whatsoever and I credited my daily workouts for strengthening them or something (I'm not a doctor, they hurt and then they didn't, that's progress to me). But after 8 hours of shopping my left heel, all the way up into the back of my calf is really sore.

I hope I just overused it, like I did my wallet and it will be back to normal Monday when gym time is set to resume.

Black Friday

So today is for the budget what yesterday was for the diet.

In the same way I approached Thanksgiving with cautious optimism and a loosely structured plan I will now head to the mall.

This will be the first Black Friday without credit cards. I used to play the credit card game, fanning them out like a Vegas Blackjack dealer. I would pay down certain ones in advance of this shopping day and run them right back up.

Not this year, I have a limited amount of cash at my disposal and a list of "must gets" and off I go.

Despite these restrictions I still did not feel the need to be up at 3:00 a.m. Perhaps I value my sanity over pleasing my loved ones, but there is nothing out there at 3:00 a.m. that is a good enough deal for me to wander out in the cold and dark with certifiably crazy people. If you are one of those folks, more power to you, you clearly love your family more than I do :)

Everyday Thanks

I try to be thankful year round, but it is nice to have a day devoted to the concept. While words cannot express how thankful I am for the love and well being of those around me, I can express thanks for a few more mundane items in life.

Here is a short list of everyday thanks.

1. My Job: I know I like to bitcha bout it, but I am very grateful to have one and to be able to manage and support myself on my own.

2. Treadmills With TVs: I have the attention span of a 5 year old at the gym, I can do 40 minutes easy though while watching an episode of Dr. Oz.

3. York Peppermint Patties: I'm kind of addicted.

4. Boston: Living in a city gives me so much joy, extra exercise from not having a car and an endless source of entertainment.

5. Yarn: Learning to knit was one of the great joys of the past couple of years, it gives me a useful productive way to relax and is a portable affordable hobby I hav brought all over the world with me.

6. The Library: The source for all of my books and DVDs, the library is a warm welcome light in my life, saving me money and providing me an endless source of information and entertainment.

7. Ramler Park: This tiny little gem of a park down the street from my apartment is the perfect respite when city living is too much. Grass, benches and water fountains make it an ideal spot to read, meet friends, picnic or just watch the clouds.

8. The Internet: Al Gore knew what he was doing when he connected the whole world together. Recipes, budget advice, celebrity gossip and more help fill my mind.

So while today is about the big concept, try to find something in your regular day for which to be thankful. It makes life a little sweeter.

Blog, Blog, Blog

So one of my readers asked me to address what it was like to blog every day. As part of "You Asked For It" week here is a blog about blogging (how very meta of me).

I am a lucky blogger as I happen to work from home and my day allows me the time to devote to a blog post a day (sometimes two if I have content for my knitting blog too). How much time I have can vary based on my work or extenuating circumstances like being away from home, but in general I am lucky in regards to access to a computer and enough time to gather my thoughts.

In the beginnng I had a well thought out message calendar and tried to intersperse my topics from diet to budget to organization and back, but I found that blogging about the diet sort of took over. This happened for a couple of reasons: the budget situation is pretty static right now (which is a good thing) and it seems that food and food-related topics are on my mind and in the news a lot. There was just more fodder with food.

I try to have at least a post a week with links to other articles and source material, to have recommendations for websites or books to encourage those who want to play along at home. I look for recipes and shopping tips on line and try to pass them along.

My fear with blogging in general is slipping in to a solipsistic navel-gazing universe of me, me and only me all the time. I am well aware that I am not the only person facing my particular journey and it would be insensitive at best to write like that. Of course, that doesn't stop me from the occassional reflective post on me, but I try to keep that to a minimum.

I do feel tied to the blog and get a little anxious when circumstances prevent me from blogging in the morning. Like working out, the later in your day it gets the less likely you are to do it. On Sunday I did not have time to blog before I left the house for the day. I did not get home until 11:00 p.m. and had had a few glasses of wine, but I snuck in a post to make my daily quota. In a couple weeks I am traveling for work and will face my first few days "on the road" with the blog.

90% of the time though blogging is just something I do now, like going to the gym and writing out my meal plan. It is part of my process for achieving these goals and if it is slightly self-indulgant I am OK with that for the time being. That there are people interested enough to read is a wonderful bonus!

100 Posts in 100 Days

Well, the day is here... 100 posts in 100 days, woo hoo! And while I did have 1 guest-written post, that is still 99 posts written by me in as many days.

I got a tiny bit of reader feedback and I promise I will address your requests in the next few posts.

This blog started as a tool for me to use to keep my goals in sight and to make me accountable, at least to the handful of you reading. It was a means for me to research and report on diet and budget issues that might be useful, not only to me, but you as well.

It takes a good deal of structure and discipline to blog every day (and this past Sunday I got my post in 30 minutes before the day was over, but I did it). It is this kind of discipline I am trying to impose on myself in other ways and it has been a learning curve.

So thank you all for indulging my needs, I hope you have gotten something out of the endeavor. I have every intention of blogging for the next 100 days, so stick around!

Gobble, Gobble

So it is Thanksgiving week. I love Thanksgiving. Perhaps it is growing up on the South Shore of Massachusetts, mere moments from Plymouth. Perhaps it is gathering together my loved ones. Perhaps it is the parade, who doesn't love a parade. Perhaps it is the pie. And the stuffing. And the gravy.

Thanksgiving is a food holiday (most holidays are food holidays to me, but this is a food holiday to nearly everyone). There are no gifts, unless you include the cheese platter.

In an unforeseen turn of events we are celebrating Thanksgiving at a restaurant this year for the first time in my life. I am totally fine with this for multiple reasons, not the least of which is keeping the peace. And in many ways this will help keep Thanksgiving under control.

The biggest problem with Thanksgiving at my house was not the meal. My mother always made a fairly healthy Thanksgiving, the stuffing and pie were the worst items nutritionally. My problem was portion control. It is very easy to have another scoop of potatoes while chatting about football or stuff another slice of pie in my mouth when someone mentions Sarah Palin.

At the restaurant I will only have as much food as is served to me, still likely more than I should eat, but those pesky seconds and thirds won't exist.

We will be making pie to have at home, but I will try to keep it to one or two (whether I mean slices or entire pies is between me and the pie).

I am thankful for many things, not the least of which is the love and support of those of you that have supported me these past few months. Wishing everyone a peaceful, safe and tasty holiday.

Sunday Recap Week 14

This was a challenging week for a couple reasons. Had a bit of a cold, but still worked out. Had a work conference, so ate a little bit too much and definitely had too much beer. Finances are a bit confused as I will get reimbursed for some of my outings from the work thing.

Diet: Definitely did not eat according to plan starting Thursday, but did get to the gym every day despite slight cold, so overall a win i say.

Budget: Spent quite a bit on eating out the last few days of the week, but mostly work related and will be reimbursed.

Mood: Slipping into holiday spirit, definitely cheerier than I have been.

In 0ther news have started blogging like Bridget Jones, hmmm...

Snack on This

Pita Bread! When I was a kid pita bread was considered "ethnic" food, nowadays it is incredibly common and affordable and good for you. With many whole grain varieties you can have a healthy option for sandwiches or snacks.

Pita bread is low in fat and lower in carbohydrates than many other breads, it isn't as filling and goes well with many fillings.

I like to cut mine up into little wedges and toast it with a little sea salt or cinnamon sugar as a snack. These pita chips hold up well to hummus or guacamole and make a great accompaniment to soups, stews or chili.

In a pinch pre-packaged pita chips work well too, but you cannot control the sodium or toppings that way. If you have the time make your own, it is cheaper too!

The Gift of Giving

Financial times are hard for so many right now. The holidays are a wonderful time to give to those less fortunate. No matter how tight cash has been in the past I have always tried to buy some gifts for families in need of support at the holidays. It is easy to find a giving tree at local stores, churches, community centers and more.

Cash donations are always appreciated, but I really love to take one of those little ornaments with a child's age and wish on them. I love to buy and wrap the gifts and leave them knowing this child is going to get something they really want for Christmas.

In the past few years my assistant and I have agreed to not buy gifts for one another and instead to use that money for charitable gifts. It is a win win for both of us and does not put a crimp in our gift budget.

I have always been spoiled rotten at Christmas, it is just common sense to want to pay that forward.

Engaging

No one will mistake me for a swimsuit model any time soon, but after 3+ months of solid workouts, I have muscles I didn't know I had.

I can tell now, when I do strength moves, which muscles are being engaged and I can feel them doing more of the work. This is blessed news to my back and joints which used to do all of the work.

I am also able to engage my ab muscles when doing non-ab-related tasks, like walking on the treadmill. This helps strengthen my back and core and will prevent injury and pain, as well as eventually make me look better.

According to Fitness Magazine, one month of solid exercise will make you noticeably stronger. I definitely felt that difference at month one, now in the midst of month four I am doing things I didn't think I could do.

I still can't to do dips, but maybe in a couple months.

Setting Boundaries

Financially, unless you are Bill Gates, you will find there are times you feel less broke than others. Over the years there will be times of greater income and less bills for various reasons and times when it all catches up to you and you are strapped.

It is good to remember that the lean times may reappear when you have some extra cash. Spending habits you get in to when you are flush may be hard to maintain when you are broke. Getting those highlights every 8 weeks become less vital when you are counting your pennies.

This is true when it comes to Christmas too. When money is flowing it is easy to go crazy at Christmas and precedent gets set that may be hard to meet in the coming years. This is tricky where kids are involved, Santa doesn't often hit a financial speed bump, but amongst adults it can be nipped in the bud.

A friend and I sat down over breakfast last weekend and came up with a budget for Christmas gifts for one another. Now we have been friends for a loooooonnnngggg time and are more than comfortable having such a talk. It was honest, brief and to the point. You should enter such a conversation only if you are certain the other person understands and will not be hurt by your desire to dial back on Christmas.

Certainly friends and loved ones should love you for you and not the presents you buy, but we have so hyped up Christmas that it can be a touchy subject.

If you are having one of those financial up years also be cautious of adding people to your gift giving list. If you didn't buy someone a gift in the lean years starting now sets a precedent for future years. Instead consider going out for a nice dinner, spending time with a person can be a lot more fulfilling than a gift.

There is so much to be stressed out about at the holidays, addressing any budget concerns now can alleviate some of that stress early, leaving you plenty of time to fret over Aunt Polly's unwavering allegiance to Sarah Palin.

Can I Work Out With the Sniffles?

So I have a little cold, emphasis on the "little". I really have an aggravated case of the sniffles. I did succomb to the mercy of cold medicine yesterday, but I had no cough and no fever. So I went to the gym.

I did a normal work out, but was certain to hydrate very well as the cold medicine dries you out normally. I disinfected all the machines when I left and I felt great. Exercise is a natural immune system booster, so if you are a little sick, a workout might do you good!

Never work out if you have any stomach flu symptoms (in fact try not to leave your house those germs are nasty) or a fever, your body has to work really hard to fight these types of illness and a workout will certainly not help. Don't work out if your head cold is causing dizziness or imbalance as you do not want to injure yourself (although a few miles on the recumbent bike might be OK).

Keep yourself hydrated and be sure to wipe down any machines you use with disinfectant.

I am so afraid of something derailing my workout regimen, I was happy this cold appears to be just a slight hiccup.

Food Industry Secrets

Unfortunately food is big business and can fall victim to all the pitfalls of anything that revolves around money. There is greed and corruption and misrepresentation in the food world as much as any stock portfolio or pharmaceutical company.

It's a shame since food is so vitally important to health and well being and while corporate megastars play games the average consumer suffers at their mercy.

Yahoo published this article a couple weeks ago with what they call "shocking food industry secrets". I was not shocked by any of them, but they do bear some study.

I find #10 fascinating. Finally, someone is doing some research on the addictive nature of junk food. I often joke that certain unhealthy treats are laced with crack, thus making me crave them even after one bite. The old Lays potato chip slogan was "You can't eat just one" and it is true. Your body craves what it knows and that is true for healthy food too, but it reacts faster and more quickly to salt and sugar so junk food cravings are more volatile and more severe. People who criticize junk food eaters for being uninformed or lazy don't understand how hard it can be to break that habit.

Items #11 and 12 are also of great interest to me. The mark up on food is pretty high and a lot of that goes towards advertising costs and grocery store stocking fees. The politically correct answer to this is buy organic and local, but that is not always feasible for most people, but you can shop the grocery store smarter. Taste test some generic or lesser known brands of certain items (cereals, crackers, yogurt and the like) and save some money in the process.

Food anthropologist Michael Pollan states in his little tome Food Rules, never eat anything you see advertised on television. If this subject matter interests you I point you toward Mr. Pollan, he can be a little preachy, but he is well-informed and writes in an interesting and compelling fashion.

What we eat is so vital to our health and how much we need to spend to put good food in our body is so crucial to our budget, knowledge is your best source of power in this ongoing fight. What do you think? Were you shocked by any of these revelations?

Sunday Recap Week 13

Due to some scheduling and IT conflicts, this is a little late today, but still getting in by midnight on the Eastern Seaboard!

So as I mentioned this week I felt a little more back on track this week:

Diet: Upped the intensity and length of my cardio again this month and have added strength training on all 5 days, up from 3. Definitely a better food week despite eating out 4 times.

Budget: Made some holiday plans in an effort to save some money, while still enjoying the season, so that feels good.

Mood: Early week was a whirlwind with new niece arriving amidst terrible depressing fall dark wet weather. Despite some peripheral stress, I realized today that compared to this same time last year I am much happier over all and that is so comforting.

This week ends with a work conference, need to do some planning to bring my lunch so I don't end up eating take out too much!

Readers' Poll: Take Two

So last week I asked for some ideas for my 100th post week in regards to re-visiting topics previously discussed here on 4 to 40. I got a couple, but not enough to do a whole week's worth of posts.

So this week I ask: Is there anything I haven't covered yet that you are hoping to read about? Anything about me specifically on my journey or topics you think will appeal to this audience.

I'm hoping for a whole week of "You Asked For It Posts".

Thanks!

Back on Track

So, if you have been reading you know the past few weeks have been kind of rocky on the scale. Well, I am happy to report that I appear to be back on track, hitting my November 1st goal today just 12 days late, not too terribly bad.

What gives me great hope, amidst the fear of constantly having to count every calorie that goes in my mouth, is that I did not give up. I did not have a few bad weeks and say "Screw this, bring on the pie!" I didn't sit resignedly, with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, and mumble about being this way forever around mouthfuls of Chubby Hubby.

Instead I got back to tracking my food, upped my workouts at the gym and pushed through a plateau. Our bodies are strange and wonderous things and I won't know if the past two weeks were a plateau or the result of eating some extra calories, but for now I am at 25% of my goal. I only have to do what I have done over the past 14 weeks three more times and I will have acheived my big goal.

On the budget side I am saving an additional amount of money equal to the pounds I have lost thus far in my vacation fund. My next goal is on December 1 and that will be something what with Thanksgiving coming, but for now, I am more than happy with myself.

Eating Out

'tis the season for visiting with friends and family, holiday shopping and celebrations that lead to many meals outside of the house. I have already had 3 this week and am heading down to my parents' this weekend where there will likely be another.

It won't surprise you to learn that my advice for these outings is to plan ahead. Here are a couple of tips to help save money and calories:

1. Don't Wait Too Long: If you are out shopping, stop and have lunch or dinner before you are too hungry. If you are totally famished you will eat way more than you would otherwise and likely make poor choices. So plan your day to include meal stops at regular times, not lunch at 4:00.

2. Chart a Course: If you are heading out for a whole day of shopping plan to be near restaurants you know are safe, hit the mall that has a Panera or Au Bon Pain where you can get healthier quick options. If you are with a group, make it known early in the day that you would prefer one of these places to burgers or pizza. This will also help with #1, if you have a destination and an agreed upon plan you are less likely to wander aimlessly until you are too hungry to think right.

3. Do Your Research: Going out for a nice dinner? Look up the menu online in advance. This will help you plan a budget for the evening and make some healthy choices, be firm so that even if you arrive a little harried and over-hungry you stick to your original choices.

4. Save Money on the Liquids: Downgrade your drinks. If you normally drink $10 fancy cocktails, have 1 and switch to less expensive wine. If you normally drink wine and others do too try to plan ahead and order a bottle for the table to save some money. If you are a beer drinker try spacing out your beers with a glass of water in between. If you don't drink alcohol, stick to water, soda is over priced and full of empty calories.

5. One Dessert, Two Forks Please: Restaurant desserts are notoriously huge and expensive and during this season of the many baked goods it seems as American as apple pie to have dessert with every meal (for a list of my favorite breakfast desserts, email me :) ). Cut cost and share the calories by splitting dessert, even if you aren't cozy enough with your companion to eat off the same plate, chop the sucker in half and take your piece.

I won't avoid going out over the next couple of festive months and I would certainly not ask my friends to forgo holiday merriment either, I will just have to make my plan and try my hardest to stick to it. Between that and keeping up my gym time I hope to come out of the holidays unscathed.

Being a Cheapskate

So one of the big crossover issues in the diet/budget continuum is grocery bills. How to buy the best and healthiest food for less.

On a talk show yesterday I saw the mother and father of America's Cheapest Family. This family of 7 (although only 3 kids still live at home) live on $350 a month in groceries.

It was a talk show segment so there wasn't a ton of info. They gave some tips that I have given before like meal planning and list making, not buying individually portioned things, shopping the sales, etc.

They only shop once a month, which I cannot quite bring myself to do for numerous logistical and psychological reasons.

They do not rely heavily on coupons, which is nice (side note a saw a woman on local news that saves hundreds of dollars a month by clipping coupons, but it is like her full time job and I do not have that kind of free time).

One really clever idea, which they admitted they got from a reader of their website, is to put a hand basket in the seat of your grocery cart and anything you pick up and consider buying that is not on your list goes in the basket. Before oyu check out you decide if it goes back on the shelf or if you are really willing to pay for it. They sited a statistic that grocery stores expect you to by 6 impulse items for every 10 scheduled items, that's a crazy amount!

They have a new book out about cutting your grocery bill. My library does not have a copy yet, but you can order it on their website. Which brings me to their website...

I only spent a few minutes clicking around, found some interesting tips from readers, etc. I was put off though by the marketing of their products. I realize this is their business now, but it seemed odd to be asking readers to spend so much money in the name of saving money. Maybe that is just me. In any case I am sure there are some helpful ideas for everyone there, so check it out and let me know if oyu have any money saving tips for the grocery store!

The Future's So Bright

A couple weeks ago a friend who reads the blog said: "The blog is great, but I don't understand why you want to change yourself so much." I was touched that loves me for me and doesn't understand the need for any improvement.

And to be honest, I am trying not to change too much. I am just trying to improve upon myself a little. I do not want to become self righteous and bossy. I do not want to be one of those people that others are afraid to talk to about food or money because they fear they will be judged. I just want to be me, slightly smaller and not in too much debt.

Last night I met my newest niece and it was love at first sight. I have 3 nieces and I want to be able to do lots of fun cool things with them and for them as they get bigger. It is easy now, story time and some stickers go a long way towards securing Cool Auntie ratings. I can run around the yard with them, but would love to play soccer with them when they are bigger, teach them to swim and the proper way to dive.

Soon stickers will be replaced with concert tickets for some teeny bopper I won't know and ultimately there will be college education and weddings or travel that I would love to help them enjoy.

So while this endeavor seems incredibly solipsistic, I am always thinking of them and the mythical children I could still possibly have myself. I want to be a part of the future, so that means I need to make some changes in my present.

The Biggest Loser: Inspiration or Not

I love to check Facebook when The Biggest Loser is airing. Inevitably there is a status update that reads: "Watching Biggest Loser and eating an entire tub of ice cream".

Over the many seasons of Biggest Loser I have been torn between being inspired by the contestants and exhausted at the thought of having to do so much work to lose so much weight.

As the show has progressed, the contestants have gotten much larger. I would be considered "tiny" at the BL ranch and unable to pull these unbelievable 36 pound weight losses (in 1 week, 36 pounds!). I wouldn't make good television, although I would certainly cry two or three times a day which would get me some screen time.

Like most reality television, this show does seem to focus on the drama more than the primary objective of losing weight. When it does focus on weight loss it is more about working out than eating well, often you have no idea what these contestants are eating. They do nutritional segments and food-related challenges and lessons, but day-to-day there is no indication of what they are eating to fuel these maniacal work outs.

The workout segments are all cut together for maximum drama, so even that is hard to piece together as any kind of real-life regiment. I did see something in an episode I was watching last night that I am going to try at the gym today. They were holding a medicine ball above their heads while on the treadmill. This is genius and clever multi-tasking.

I had thought about free weights on the treadmill, but there is no where to put them if you need your hands to alter the controls or the volume on the TV. A single medicine ball can easily be held in one hand, or tucked under an arm. I will be doing this today!

In the meantime I personally find the show inspirational (although I have been known to eat dessert while watching) and the theme song always makes me a little teary. What have you done today to make you feel proud?

Sunday Recap -- Month 3

So, 3 months is a significant milestone. One quarter of the way through a year of living on a diet and a budget is something to stop and consider. I intend to spend some time today reflecting on the past 3 months and try to steer myself back on to a better path moving forward into the holiday season.

Month #3 was a bit of a disaster, the wheels came off the wagon so-to-speak and both the diet and the budget suffered. Now I am not lounging around with the remnants of several packages of Keebler cookies strewn about, but the progress of months one and two were not as obvious in month 3.

I did do some work this morning to check on the cumulative success of 3 months though.

Diet

• I have lost 22% of my goal, which is slightly under-schedule, but nothing to sneeze at.
• I have lost 14.5 inches of myself in 3 months. The majority of that in the 3 primary areas for girls (chest, waist & hips)
• I have cooked many more meals at home than I was and discovered some healthy options I enjoy regularly
• I have developed a very good exercise habit and have continued to challenge myself from month-to-month
  

Let's focus on the 2nd bullet: Although I have always been larger than I should be, I am grateful that I have always been proportionate. I do not carry all of my weight in one half of my body. I am thrilled that I seem to be losing it in proportion as well.

Yesterday, for fun I tried on jeans that are 1 size smaller than normal and not only did they fit, I didn't buy them because they were practically too big.

Goal: To wear jeans 2 sizes smaller than starting size by Christmas!

Budget

• Completed enrollment in Debt Management Program and have settled all outstanding credit accounts. Simply maintaining monthly payments.
• Set household budget
• Over 3 months managed to stay (barely) under total household budget. Overspending greatest in Gifts/Entertainment.

Simply keeping track of my finances is a big enough accomplishment for me. After analyzing 3 months of spending I know where my problem areas are and will work to improve upon those (although the holiday months will be very difficult).

Mood

• Alleviated overall terror of insurmountable debt -- that must count for something.
• Feel more powerful and in control of my future.
• Am terrified at this past month and how easy it was to not lose any significant weight despite keeping up my workout regime.
• Am looking at holidays with mixture of joy and fear (that is pretty normal though).

I think that I have been happier over all these past 3 months. Channeling the fear and anxiety over these two issues into some productive gains has been really good.

The next time I do a 3 month recap it will be 6 months into the program, I am excited at the ways my life may have changed by then.

Reader Survey

So, in a couple weeks I am going to hit 100 blog posts! And to celebrate I thought I would devote a whole week to revisiting topics from the first 100 days of my journey.

So, if there was something I blogged about and you have been thinking: "Gee, I wish Annmarie would revisit x, y or z..." Now is your chance!

Email me at annmarie.faiella@yahoo.com with the topic you would like me to discuss again and I will happily address it during the 100th post extravaganza!

Kitchen Must Haves: Microplane Grater

I don't believe in spending a lot of money on gadgets, but there are a few must-haves for every healthy kitchen. One of my favorites is a Microplane Grater.

The one in the link is the one I own and I love it. It works on everything from ginger, to nutmeg to hard cheeses and citrus zesting.

With a couple swipes of the microplane you can infuse your food with a wonderfully deep flavor, making a boring healthy meal something delightful and exotic.

This one is not very expensive and I have had mine for over 5 years and it is sturdy and sharp as when I got it. I highly recommend one for your kitchen!

Fatties on TV

So a couple weeks ago I posted this in response to National Spirit Day in support of LGBT youth in America. It was just my own thoughts about how we treat people sometimes, the people we think we can get away with being mean to and not be ridiculed for it.

Shortly after that post I heard about the Marie Claire blogger, Maura Kelly, who is disgusted by the television show Mike & Molly because it depicts overweight people falling in love. If you are not up-to-speed on this topic you can catch up with this piece from the Huffington Post. It links to the original blog and many of the resulting comment lists, etc.

I have heard a lot of discussion of the topic and I suppose it is good that people are talking about it.

At the same time, aesthetics are different from person to person and while there is certainly an overwhelming media presence of beautiful people on television and in magazines there are people out there that do not enjoy seeing overly thin people on television either.

I was recently watching an episode of the new 90210 (go ahead judge, I don't mind) and a woman wearing a bathing suit was so thin you could see ever bone in her back and it truly revolted me. You cannot pick on skinny people though, they might be sick.

It bothers me that we treat anorexia as a disease and obesity as a problem.

In fact, Maura Kelly, admits to her own history of anorexia in her "apology" for her insensitive comments on Marie Claire's blog. And by apology I mean the "I'm sorry if anyone took offense to what I said" kind of apology that really blames the reader for being too touchy.

I have not watched Mike & Molly, not because I don't believe there should be fat people on television, but because I don't watch a lot of sitcoms. No one asked Maura Kelly to watch it either, certainly no one forces her or anyone to watch it if it makes them uncomfortable. It is one of CBS's top-rated shows this season though, so someone is watching it and enjoying it.

In a free society, isn't there room for everyone, even if some of us take up a little more space?

Clean Green

So for weeks now I have been telling myself I have to do my fall cleaning. I like to get everything spic 'n span and organized before the holidays. There is nothing worse than putting up the Christmas tree with cobwebs in the window.

I try to be greener in my cleaning these days, buying products that are more natural, but this year in an effort to eliminate chemicals all together and save some cash I am going to do my fall cleaning with common household items and see how it goes.

Here is a website with recipes for cleaning products using basic ingredients like baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice.

Another great cleaning agent: vodka! And I don't just mean drink some and the house will look less messy. A friend of mine saw this on Oprah and it is seriously awesome, use vodka in your bathroom/kitchen on the fixtures and they will shine like you won't believe. You don't have to spring for the good stuff either, finally a reason to buy $8 plastic jugs of vodka again.

All those chemical potions cost money and are ultimately not good for me or the planet, so I am going to try to go cheap and green and see if my apartment feels as clean when I am done.

If you have any natural cleaning suggestions please send them along, I would love to try them out.

Failure

I knew, going in to this endeavor, that there would be moments when I failed. I had hoped I would make some great gains (or losses as it were) before hand. I failed to reach my November 1st mini goal and in fact gained 1 pound over the past 2 weeks, which is truly upsetting to me.

It isn't the 1 pound that is that big a deal, it could just be water retention, it might be gone tomorrow. What is upsetting is that I really wasn't that bad the past 2 weeks. I had a few minor slips with snacks, but I kept my meals in check and worked out 5 days each week. What is upsetting is the realization that I am going to have to be this vigilant for the rest of my life or the weight will come right back like it has every other time.

Time to wallow in self pity...

Don't Drink Your Calories

'Tis the season for festive beverages! As I mentioned recently, there are lots of tasty beverages in the coffee shops this time of year. Coffee drinks are just one of the many liquid temptations these days though and some of them are disguised as healthy options.

Make sure you read the nutritional info on smoothies, they may seem super healthy and packed with nutrients, but they are often packed with fat and calories too (sometimes your whole day's worth).

Juices and sweetened teas are also calorie culprits, full of sugar (or chemicals mimicking sugar) and little actual nutrition.

Steve Zinczenko, creator of the Eat This, Not That craze had this to say onthe subject: "Today we hear of sweetened tea drinks brimming with anti-oxidants, 1,200 calorie smoothies that are 'all natural' (so are sharks and hurricanes, by the way) and vitamin drinks that can give you super human strength."

I think Steve's point is, don't be fooled by the advertising, these beverages contain tons of calories and probably not as much nutrition as you think.

They are also very pricey...

Sunday Recap Week 11

I had set a mini goal for tomorrow, November 1st, that I will not reach due to complete lack of snack control. This will be my first failure in that regard.

Diet: As you can imagine from above it was not a good food week. I gave in to lots of cravings for snacks. my meals were fine, but I ate a lot of extra stuff not on my meal plan and the results are obvious. I hate the fact that I cannot even veer off slightly without disaster, living like this for the rest of my life may be impossible. I did get to the gym every day, which prevented complete reversal of progress.

Budget: I am not looking forward to balancing out this month. I am definitely over budget in at least 3 categories... One of those is groceries and is clearly related to the above deviation from my meal planning, the 2 are intrinsically linked.

Mood: It was a decent week at work, over all a pleasant week, but the snacking kept tickling at my mood, made me happy at first, then guilty.

Hunger: Wasn't that hungry, since I ate too much.

I need to regroup today and set myself up for a successful 2 weeks so I can hit my mid November goal before Thanksgiving...

Book Note: The Art of Eating In

You will see I am calling this a book note and not a book review as, being completely honest, I did not finish this book. I did think it was a book some of you might be interested in though, so I felt it worthy of mention.

The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove by Cathy Erway would seem to be the perfect book for me and while the concept grabbed my attention the writing slogged on in a way I could not get through. I do have friends who have read and enjoyed this book, so please don't take my word as deciding factor.

This book started as a blog (and I can certainly get behind that) and I think I would enjoy it more as such, smaller snippets of ideas and recipes.

Erway was living in New York City and lamenting how much money she spent on food prepared outside of her home, sometimes not even very good food and vowed to not eat out for 2 years. She had exceptions for work events, vacations and family celebrations, but other than that she prepared everything at home.

The opening scene of Erway and 2 friends at a crappy Beer Garden in Brooklyn was easily accessible. How often do we sit in a restaurant and pay upwards of $20 for not-very-good beer and a sandwich we could have made better and more to our liking at home?

I am not willing to take on Erway's challenge, I have enough challenges in my life right now, but I definitely think much more before I eat out or get take out about whether this is cost effective and in my own interest nutrition-wise.

Trick or Low-Fat Treat

I've never been a huge fan of Halloween, even as a kid. Sure I loved the free candy and the chance to wear more make-up than my mom would ever let me wear the other 364 days of the year, but it was just not right.

Perhaps it was the penchant for decorating with spiders and the contradiction to "not take candy from strangers" except when you go up to their homes where they can snatch you. I have not celebrated Halloween in any big way since college.

For my adult years I have spent Halloween watching scary movies and eating a bag of candy corn or fun-sized Milky Ways or Almond Joys or frosted pumpkin cookies or well, you get the picture. Not dressing up has not stopped me from eating my fair share of Halloween candy.

With the nation's focus on childhood obesity (seriously we are condemning Cookie Monster for being a bad role model, he's a monster people, a monster...) I am curious what kids get for Halloween these days. I'm sure there is still plenty of candy, but I heard (from a good 8 year old source) that some people give out stickers (I would have LOVED that when I was 8) or small toys.

I'm sure there are still the folks giving out raisins and apples, and while I am a fan of both, neither really screams "special holiday treat" to me. Hungry Girl has a few suggestions on her website this week (fyi, if you don't know about Hungry Girl, she is awesome!). I kind of like the pretzels in the festive Halloween bags, a little salty to go with the sweet.

I don't get trick-or-treaters where I live, but I know people that do and another problem is planning how many treats to have and how many you will end up eating yourself. Some people opt to buy treats they don't really care for to eliminate the temptation (there are so few pieces of candy I don't like that would be hard for me). Some folks buy a very limited amount and when it is gone it is gone. I think I would be the person handing out stickers. It would be much too easy for me to turn off the lights and hide in the bathroom eating all the candy.

I had a couple snack- related catastrophes, "snacktastrophes" if you will, this week. I didn't eat an entire bag of fun-sized Twix bars (although I wanted to every single day) but I did over eat a couple of healthy snack items to the point of blowing my calories 2 days this week at least. Proving I cannot keep snacks of any kind in my house. That is a post for another day, in the meantime have a safe and happy Halloween however you plan to celebrate!

Weekend Reorg Project: Gym Clothes

So this weekend I have to tackle my wardrobe. I have been saying I need to switch my summer clothes for fall clothes for a couple of weeks now and procrastination has reared its ugly head.

One of my projects has to be sorting through my gym clothes. If you are like me, you have every free tee shirt you were ever handed at a charity or marketing event. In my case, most of them are stained and also now too big. Recently on the treadmill I was being choked by my tee shirt which, heavy with sweat and excess material, was tugging against my throat. This can't be good for the workouts.

I know I have some slimmer workout clothes, bought in anticipation of looking good in them, somewhere in my dresser or the big box of clothes that didn't fit me a few months ago in my closet.

So there will be a purging and a reorg of my workout wear, complete with before and after pics for you to see next week!

The Perfect Bowl 1: Oatmeal

I enjoy my meals in bowls. I am not one of those people who hates it when their foods touch, often I mix things together any way. There is something comforting and soothing about a round warm bowl in your hands.

Despite today's 70 degree temps, I am going to kick off a series of posts for the fall and winter called "The Perfect Bowl". Some of these recipes (like today's) will be old standbys and some will be new attempts. If you have a recipe for something you put in a bowl, send it my way, I would love to try it out.

The Perfect Bowl: Oatmeal

I have never liked instant oatmeal. It always felt too mushy, too watery and sweet in a bad way. I was fooled into thinking that since they made instant oatmeal, regular oatmeal must be a grueling (ha, no pun intended) process. Wrong! Regular oatmeal can be made in 5 minutes and tastes so much better. I doctor mine up like this:

1 C. Water in small sauce pan until boiling, add
1/2 c. Old Fashioned Oats
1 T flax seed or chopped nuts
2 T dried cranberries
Several shakes of cinnamon
Drizzle honey

Stir and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of skim milk in a warm round bowl. Enjoy!

By adding the good fat in the flax seed or nuts you create a very satisfying breakfast with a good balance of carbs and fat and oatmeal is good for your heart (and I care about your heart).

Money is No Object

I feel like I blog a lot more about the diet than the budget. The reasons for that are multi-faceted I suppose. Budgets are more private, you can't see my bank balance, you can see my weight, that kind of thing.

Also, the budget is much more easily under control, everything has its little category and I am doing my darnedest to stick to it.

I do find myself in a bit of a quandary though... Currently I have a little extra money. Between successful budgeting for over 2 months, savings and a weird calendar that has resulted in a seemingly "extra" paycheck this quarter, I am not destitute like I was in August and September.

What I have found is that it is much easier to stick to a budget when you have no money. That may seem elementary, if you don't have the money you can't spend it. With the money present in my account it is harder to say no to dinner out or a manicure. These are not huge indulgences. I didn't get in to debt from huge indulgences though, it was 20 years of dinners out and manicures.

I am grateful for the breathing room, especially with the holidays right around the corner, but I know eventually that money is marked for something, it wasn't lottery winnings I stumbled upon, it is part of my annual income and I cannot fritter it away.

It is a huge temptation though, like the cookies I failed to stand up to this past weekend, I need to look at this challenge as a test of my fortitude in my long journey. If you see me with highlights, knock some sense into me.

Waste Not Want Not

One of the noticeable improvements in my household since I started on this adventure in August is a decrease in the amount of wasted food. I have mentioned how hard it is to shop and cook for one person and wasted food was an unfortunate byproduct of that struggle.

Now, since I am making a meal plan and a shopping list and sticking to that list like glue at the store I find there is very little waste in my weekly groceries.

Wasted food cannot be avoided altogether though and Americans waste a lot of food overall. If you think you are wasting food you might be able to salvage, read this Yahoo article for a few good tips on saving food before it goes bad.

In addition to these I also rotate my condiments, dairy and fruits and veggies so the oldest stuff gets used up first. I used to just toss new stuff in the fruit bowl on top of the old stuff, resulting in rotten apples and fruit flies.

Having less excess food in the house keeps the fridge and cabinets more organized too, so I can see what I have and eat it instead of opening the door to a jumbled mess I can't decipher and ordering a pizza.

At the end of the week my cupboards are a little bare, but all the easier to wipe them down and restock for the next week!

Sunday Recap Week 10

Busy busy week at work...

Diet: Great work out week, new sneakers made me faster I think :) Food was good until Friday. The last 2 days my diet has consisted of mostly pizza and chocolate chip cookies. Must get out of this habit ASAP.

Budget: I have spent waaaaay too much money the past 2 weeks and not just on Christmas gifts, my food and entertainment budget is way over for the month already, with 2 weeks to go, must reign that in with the cookies and pizza.

Mood: Good overall.

Hunger: Was definitely hungry as result of good workouts, still need to find healthier between meal options.

I am concerned about my November 1st goal, really need to commit to my efforts this week!

How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count....

Today's post is about my love affair with Trader Joe's. Hopefully you have one of these sweet little specialty food markets near you. Once known to me simply as the place with the delicious mini quiches, it is now a source of many affordable diet staples.

Here are my Top 10 Trader Joe's Favorites:

1. Greek Yogurt: Before it was everywhere it was at TJ's and affordable

2. Pepper Strips: Frozen tri colored pepper strips a great value and super tasty to toss in anything

3. Cereal: Great prices on high quality healthy cereals

4. Soup in a Box: Classier than wine in a box, cheaper and healthier than soup in a can

5. Hummus: Better prices than grocier store, great variety

6. Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks: Tasty, healthy and affordable snack option

7. Nuts: Best prices on a great variety of nuts

8. Dried Fruit: Ditto

9. Spices: Jazz up your healthy cooking for less

10. Olive Tapanade: Need a party favroite with heart healthy fat for cheap?

Now be cautious, Trader Joe's does have lots of tasty, unhealthy options too, so shop with care. They also don't carry many staples so it can't be your sole shopping each week, but I go about once a month and stock up on my favorites!

Girls Night In

I am blessed with a fabulous group of girlfriends, all of us with hectic lives. Every couple months we try to get together for Girls Night. Often at a restaurant where food and drink are consumed we catch up and share and laugh. Depending on the restaurant and how much alcohol we consume, these nights can run $50 or more.

Since I am not the only one watching my wallet these days, we have decided tonight to do Girls Night In. We will gather at my place for food and drink (much cheaper than eating out) and we can linger and chat as long as we like without drawing the ire of whatever post-modern waiter we happen to have.

Girls Night In is a great idea for the budget conscious. You can rotate houses and themes. Try one of these:

Cocktail Night: Have everyone bring an ingredient or two to try some new concoctions.

Manicure Night: Everyone brings their favorite nail polish colors to share. (I recommend doing the nails before the cocktails).

Game Night: Bring snacks and break out the board games, you know you have the Game of Life tucked away somewhere.

Chick Flick Night: Invite Bridget Jones or one of these others to join your group for the evening.

The options are endless. Tonight I can't wait to have many of my friends in one room!

Choose Love

I don't intend for this blog to be a political soap box, but yesterday I was struck with a profound moment of realization that affects one of my blogs topics, so here goes...

Yesterday was National Wear Purple or National Spirit Day to support LGBT youth in America. Recently there have been several suicides in the young gay community as a result of bullying. Universally bullying has become a big issue in society, but in direct relation to young people struggling with their sexual identity it is resulting in frequent tragedy.

I have always been a strong ally of the gay community. I have many friends who are gay, but in my mind they are just people. People deserve the same amount of love and respect regardless of their race, religion, political views (this one is hard for me sometimes) and who they happen to love.

It seems, in this country these days, it is OK to discriminate against homosexuals though. It is fine to fire someone (or not hire someone) because they are gay. It is acceptable and encouraged to deprive gay couples of the right to marry and it is certainly acceptable to speak cruelly to them in school.

Overweight people can get married, but those other 2 things, job discrimination and blatant public cruelty, happen to us too. I have never had a problem getting a job, but I was taunted mercilessly in junior high and high school for being overweight. I was able to compensate in certain ways, I excelled at academics, I was willing to put myself out there for band and theatre knowing the mocking would come, but doing it anyway, thanks to some good friends and great educators.

Like homosexuality, being overweight is seen by many as a choice. You must be lazy or ignorant to be fat, when for many it is the last thing in the world they want to be. If I could have woken up one day and known how to be skinny, my life would have been so much easier. If I could have changed my brain and my metabolism and my genetics and been thin I would have picked that in a heartbeat.

These aren't choices, these are the people we are: gay, fat, bald, black... when is it OK to taunt and tease and when is it socially unacceptable? These aren't choices, but hate, hate is a choice. I can understand being uncomfortable and avoiding someone if you don't relate to their lifestyle, you are missing out, but I understand. I do not understand taking that inability to relate to someone and turning it into cruel words and violent actions.

We are all people, here for a very short time on this planet, isn't easier and more fulfilling to love one another.

Mmmm Tasty

If you have ever attended a Weight Watchers meeting or visited their website you may be familiar with their slogan: "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels."

I ran that mantra through my head last night over and over again to try to talk myself out of buying a huge bag of Halloween candy and eating it piece by glorious piece.

I am nowhere near thin yet, but I am so happy with the changes I see in the mirror and in my clothes. I do feel good, physically and emotionally, about what I have done in 3 months.

But I really wanted candy. I could taste it and it tasted pretty damn good. I spent a good hour imaging the caramel and the peanut butter of the various treats inside a mixed Halloween bag and then my mind drifted off to pizza for a few minutes, before returning to the crispy rice inside a Nestle Crunch.

After the hour or so had passed I was not so motivated to get dressed and go to CVS. I only ate my allotted 3 mini York Peppermint Patties, but I hate the idea that food can grab my attention and tempt me so much.

Pumpkin Fever

Despite hating the fall, I love pumpkins! I love pumpkin-flavored everything from coffee to beer to baked goods and more! There is something magical about that big orange squash. Here are some favorites:

Pumpkin Beverages

Coffee: I prefer my regular coffee unsweetened, so when it comes to commercial pumpkin coffee I really like Honey Dew Donuts Pumpkin Spice, it is not sweet, just a mix of spices to evoke that pumpkin pie deliciousness. Dunkin Donuts, on the other hand, only has sweetened pumpkin syrup.

Latte: I generally do the latte as a dessert item and as such do not mind it sweet. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is very sweet, so I always ask (with all their syrups actually) for half the syrup to cut down on the sugar.

Beer: Like coffee it is more about the spices than the pumpkin with the pumpkin ales. I can be adventurous with beer if I am just having one (which is about all I ever have now in a bar). Shipyard makes a tasty pumpkin ale that you can get locally!

Pumpkin Baked Goods

Pie: Pumpkin pie is one of the healthier pies out there for a couple of reasons. One it is a bottom crust only pie. Crust is the worst part of most pies and if you can skip half the crust you are cutting out a lot of fat and calories. Secondly, the main ingredient: pumpkin puree is full of nutrition. Make sure you buy real pumpkin and not artificially flavored and sweetened or bake your own pumpkin and scrape it. And finally, you can doctor some of the recipe to cut fat and calories, low fat condensed milk works just as well and results in an equally creamy pie and egg beaters can replace real eggs if cholesterol is a concern. It is still pie though, so eat a slice and not the whole thing...

Pumpkin Bread: I like mine loaded with raisins and walnuts, which in combination with the pure pumpkin ratchets up the nutritional value. Again, egg beaters can replace real eggs with little change in consistency. Portion control is key, but don't avoid this tasty fall treat altogether.

Pumpkin Cheesecake: Love it, shouldn't eat it. Have never found a satisfactory low fat cheesecake recipe, it is, after all, cake made out of cheese. Try to limit to once a year.

Misc.

Pumpkin Soup: Most pumpkin based soups are creamy, try to cut the cream with some chicken or veggie stock.

Roasted Pumpkin: It is a squash, cut it up and roast with a little brown sugar or maple syrup.

Pumpkin Seeds: My favorite part of Halloween as a kid (aside from the candy of course). After carving the top of the pumpkin for a jack-o-lantern I would scoop all the slimy innards into a colander, the earthy smell of pumpkin everywhere. I would rinse the seeds and spread them on a cookie sheet, toss with kosher salt and roast until golden. Now nutritionists recommend pumpkin seeds as a healthy snack and source of many minerals.

Pumpkins are also the source of one of the greatest cartoons of all time, don't miss It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown this Thursday on ABC.

New Shoes -- A Girl's Best Friend

Yesterday I bought new sneakers. Like most girls, the idea of spending money on shoes is delightful, but in the budget arena there is not much room for clothing. I am considering factoring the sneakers into my medical budget as they are a crucial part of my healthy lifestyle.

I did not realize how worn out my current sneakers were until one of my knees started to bother me a week or so ago and I realized I was turning my foot when I walked because the infrastructure of my sneakers was shot. I had practically worn through the soles and could feel every pebble when I walked outside.

Visiting my parents this weekend afforded me the opportunity to shop at a variety of stores, much greater than the options in downtown Boston. On advice from a friend I wound up at Kohl's, which has a very extensive sneaker department with many high quality brands (Nike, Reebok, Asics, New Balance) and all the latest styles and trends.

That brings me to my great debate: To Tone or Not to Tone.


You have inevitably seen the new "toning sneakers" Sketchers Shape-Ups and Reebok Easytone being the most advertised. Most major brands now have a version of this sneaker and the ads are very enticing. Just walk and your legs and glutes will be toning the whole time! Could I possibly not have to do squats and lunges anymore?

These new sneakers are pricey, whether a result of the technology or their popularity who knows, but they run around $100 a pair. Kohl's had several versions on sale around $50 or $60 so I tried on a few pairs.

It was odd at first, it felt like I was standing on a rolling pin, the middle of my foot the only part on the ground. As I walked around the shoe department I didn't feel anything different, but I felt slightly off balance.

I can be very Hamlet-like when shopping, especially now where every dollar counts, and I debated a long time whether to give these sneakers a try. Ultimately I went with a solid pair of regular Nikes with no fancy technology. My reasoning involved fear, what if these sneakers ultimately cause me pain, what if the toning messes up my knee further, what if I trip over the unstable toe of the shoe and hurt myself. I am on such a roll at the gym now the idea of injury or set back is terrifying.

I bought my $50 Nikes, got them home, threw away my old busted up sneaks and slid my feet into sheer heaven. I felt taller (probably was since the sole wasn't worn down enough to read a newspaper through it), I walked straighter. I can't wait to get them on the treadmill today.

I might ask for a pair of Easytones for Christmas, but for now I erred on the side of tradition.